Best Theo Return on Promo Chips

YO eleven..........................................I like your attitude.

You guys are confusing risk with 100% return. I realize that in order to have no risk, I have to give up some return but I'm looking for the lowest fixed amount.

For example, if I was able to play both sides of a prop, I might opt for what Marcio said and play roulette with $7K each on odd and even and then $500 on 0 and 00, I know what my fixed return will be. There is zero risk and about a 6% drain.

I'm starting to think that I'm going to play these on bacarrat assuming they offer this game. I'll play one side with the promo chips and have a friend make an offsetting bet of an equal amount in cash. I should be able to flush these at a net cost of 1-1.25% meaning that I should yield $14,800. Not every exciting and James Bondesque but that's not what I'm looking for.

If bacarrat isn't an option, then I think employing the same strategy at craps will offer similar results with a nominally lower return.

I'm not trying to think of these as promo chips....I'm thinking of them as cash. Once again, if they were smaller denomination, I'd play them at BJ. With only 30 units, the variance can kick my ass and I'm not willing to risk it.

I tend to be a procrastinator but the time has come to deal with this. I need to get a friend to come along and conspire with me on this which I'll try to do before this weekend is out.

Dan

Dan, I'm sure you realize that if you have a friend bet $500 on the opposite of what you are betting, it will not go unnoticed. I'm not sure how the casino will react to this but they may ask him to leave. What will you do then?

Betting cash against these promo chips on the baccarat table more than doubles the expected loss.

If one wagers all $15k in promo chips on the player, the expected return from the promo chips is $14,841 in cash. For the friend betting a simultaneous $15k on the banker, the expected return is $14,814 in cash. Since I presume the owner of the promo chips will cover the losses of his partner, the owner will turn the $15k in promo chips into just $14,655.

Until the day comes where I intend to never gamble again, I'd take $14,841 and a little volatility over $14,655 and no volatility every time.

This upcoming Golden Nugget craps tournament pays winners in promo chips and specifically prohibits them from being wagered on both sides of a bet:

Tournament winnings taken in Promotional Chips cannot be played against each other (example: Mini-baccarat Banker vs. Player)

Dan,

I have been out of town for the last week so here is a very belated congratulations! ... I made the championship table of a 465-person tournament a few years ago, but stubbed my toe on the final table.

Having these promotional chips to burn is akin to a shopping spree!

I have no reason to believe that they won't allow a cash contra bet. They said no to using promo chips for this but if two people walk on a game with one betting banker with promo chips and one betting player with cash, what can they do?

If for some reason this isn't allowed, I'll flat bet them at BJ on positive counts.

Chilcoot, I think I understand the game return but it's the volatility that's worrisome. If these were $100 chips, no issue. At $500 each, there's more volatility than I feel comfortable with. With only 30 betting units, the variance either way is very likely going to be more than the theo return. If I don't have a choice, than so be it. If I do, then I'll take the calculated return with zero risk.

Terry, that's an impressive result! Did making it to the final table pay anything? In the tournament I was in, only the final four cashed but there were only 108 players.

I was at HR tonight and they do have one Bacarrat table in high limit with some exotic bets. Didn't discuss what I intended to do but we'll visit that subject tomorrow with the pit boss when I have the actual chips with me.

Thanks all!

Dan

Dan, yes they paid the top six in this tournament, which lasted two days. So the real pressure was on the six semifinal tables because the winner of each was guaranteed $$ and a spot on the championship table.

At our next get-together we should talk tournament strategy.

Hey Dan,

Will you still use the Promo Chips for Blackjack if you find out that they end up only paying you even-money (1 To 1) for a Player Blackjack (but this should be checked out) and/or if they also can't be used if you should be in the position to Double Down and/or Splitting or Resplitting Pairs?

Otherwise, as I mentioned earlier, Baccarat might be the next best game (financial drain-wise) to deal with to do what you can to extract as much real money as possible out of these Promo Chips.

I view this the same way as Freeplay and I have learned that with Freeplay, if there isn't any decent enough Video Poker to play and if the amounts are small (like less than $20), then the better play is to use it at as low as you can play per hand at Video Blackjack.

And so I think that playing Blackjack or (maybe even better) Baccarat might be your best play in this instance.

I wish you all the best on this!

RecVPPlayer

Terry, look forward to talking strategy and sipping a bit of PJ. In fact, we're off to Olives for lunch....would a Veuve make a suitable alternative? LOL

David, you make very good points and I'll certainly get clarification on BJ payouts, DD scenarios, etc. To answer your question, if it's only even money on BJ and no DD for example, I'll give BJ a miss.

Like you, in the case of free play, I'm looking for low variance. For example, I'd rather play a nickle 100 line game than a $5 single line one. No right or wrong answer here; just a matter of personal preference and psychological bankroll considerations.

I'll post and let you know how this all works out.

Thanks again everyone for the advice and cautionary points.

Dan

I played with promo chips and the pit boss would only let me place even money bets. I also had the "use um til you lose um" policy. I did well playing the pass line in craps. Talk to the pit boss before making any bets and see what their policy is.